Natural Parks and Reserves

Natural Parks and Reserves:

We’ve only been to two Natural Reserves so far, but we hope to see the Tiger Park near Calcutta before leaving India (if we have time).

The Keoladeo Ghana National Park near the town of Bharatpur in Rajasthan was fabulous. The Park is known as a bird sanctuary, but in fact has many other animals, such as monkeys, antelope, foxes, pythons, and a tiger. We enjoyed the peace of the park, as we biked its area and saw many animals that we had not before seen in the wild.

It is a World Heritage site, and to read the complete story of our day there, please click on the section entitled “UNESCO sites” under the Indian flag.

One sign stopped us in our tracks. You really know you’re in India when you can see a National Park sign stating: “In your next Incarnation, you might be an endangered species. Help us Save the Siberian Crane!!!”

After our wonderful experience in Keoladeo, we decided to make a detour to see another wildlife park. This one was called Sitamata Natural Reserve, also in Rajasthan. What a disappointment! We had taken a detour to get there, and then biked up an INCREDIBLY steep road to the top of a mountain, and then – there were no animals!!! In a wildlife preserve! And the man in Udaipur had assured us that he had seen a panther there – twice!

The man who worked at the entrance said that we could go to the top of the mountain several kilometers up to visit the temple. The road was up a very steep path made of sand and dirt and huge rocks. It was extremely difficult and fatiguing in the hot sun, but we told ourselves that it would be worth it to see the temple and some wild animals. Then we reached the top – and the temple was closed! Locked! Looked like it had been locked for quite some time. Plus, there were no animals!!! Not a single bird or cat or dog or cow or anything! And we had paid for this! What a rip-off!!!